


assorted chocolates

by towine (snippetcee)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snippetcee/pseuds/towine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of chocolate and flowers and why kissing your best friend is less about thinking and more about <em>doing</em>. Which is just fine by Eren Jaeger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	assorted chocolates

**Author's Note:**

> this is so sappy i'm gagging but hopefully someone gets a kick out of it? maybe? this is also my first posted fanfic ever [hides]

“What’s this?”

  
Eren peered curiously into what his father handed him -- a small box filled with delicate, colorful paper that crinkled as he peeled away the layers to reveal the contents. A sweet smell reached his nose and there, nestled amidst so many pinks and yellows, were six small, brown squares.

  
Eren looked up at his father who gave a small smile and explained, “Chocolate. It’s sweet, try some.”

  
Sugar was a rarity in the outer districts, and no one got their hands on it often. Whatever honey and sugar was harvested here was sent straight to the inner walls, to be consumed by those who reveled in the peace and luxury of a life so far from the Titans. His father must have gotten these “chocolates” during his trip to the inner districts, Eren thought, and they probably cost a fortune, too.

  
Carla voiced the same concern, “Oh, I don’t think we can afford such sweets -- goodness knows sugar’s hard enough to come by.”

  
“A patient gave them to me,” Grisha assured. “Go ahead and try some, Eren, you’ll like it.”

  
Slowly, cautiously, Eren picked up a chocolate square with his thumb and forefinger, looking at it carefully before taking a bite.

  
And it _was_ sweet, his whole tongue suddenly tingling with a sensation he’s never felt before. He was surprised to feel the chocolate melt in his mouth, the sweetness spreading down his throat as he swallowed lightly, and his nerves seemed to sing with it. His tongue licked at the roof of his mouth, behind his teeth, the remnants of the chocolate dissipating.

  
Eren popped the rest of the chocolate square into his mouth, and ate two more after that.

  
Carla laughed at his eagerness and said, “Don’t eat them all, Eren, or you’ll make yourself sick! Why don’t you share them with that friend of yours?”

  
Eren paused, the words processing in his head for only a second before sprinting out of the house, the box of chocolate clutched in his hands and thinking, _of course_ _!_

  
 _Armin_ has _to try these_ _!_

  
\---

  
“W-what are they?”

  
“Chocolate!” Eren said, holding the box with one hand while picking up a square with the other. “My dad got it in the inner districts. Eat it!” He held the piece of chocolate in front of the blond’s face expectantly.

  
“What does it taste li-- mmf!” Armin didn’t get to finish his sentence before Eren unceremoniously shoved the chocolate between his lips.

  
Eren waited patiently for a reaction.

  
Armin’s face melted into surprise, then delight. Then his blue eyes sparkled in a way that Eren recognized from whenever they read that old book, the one about the outside world, the one that made them forget about living in a cage and filled their heads with images of blue oceans and sea salt. The one that made Armin look so happy.

  
Like in this moment. “… I-it’s delicious!” Armin said, smiling.

  
And Eren had been planning on eating more of the chocolate himself, but instead he said, “You can have the rest, if you like.” And they spent the rest of the afternoon talking about hot, dry deserts and dense jungles while Armin licked the last of the chocolate off his fingers and Eren never stopped watching the glint in his eyes the entire time.

  
\---

  
Sweets still weren’t a frequent present in their lives after that -- Eren’s father didn’t make trips to the inner districts often, and life in the outer reaches of Wall Maria moved on. But Eren and Armin remembered, and they sometimes heard whisperings among the other children about rumors of decorated cakes and sweet candies and honey-glazed rolls -- shops in the inner districts that were wholly dedicated to sugary confections. Eren and Armin licked their lips and remembered smudges of sweet chocolate on their fingertips.

  
But Eren never pestered his father to buy more, and he understood that having food on the table at all was a blessing.

  
There was no more chocolate, but there were crisp apples and small, yellow honeysuckles that he and Armin would collect on warm afternoons and absently suck on while watching the clouds roll by. And the flowers were tiny and didn’t yield much, but it was enough to put a small smile on Armin’s face, and that made them enough for Eren, too.

  
\---

  
Mikasa’s parents died and Eren suddenly had a sister. And for awhile, it was hard to not be angry at the world, to not burst with the hateful thoughts raging in his head at the unfairness of life and the cruelty it unleashes on the people who deserve it the least. Mikasa was so quiet, face always half hidden behind that red scarf, and Eren, as much as he loved having Mikasa for a sister, wished every day that she could have her own parents back. For a long time, he wondered if she would ever smile.

  
When he introduced Mikasa to Armin, Armin was surprised to see that Eren had a new friend, let alone a new _sister_ , but they seemed to get along well. Mikasa was as reticent as ever and Armin was as shy as ever, and a bit awed in her presence.

  
Time passed and Eren’s hate began to fade, dark memories retreating into the back corner of his mind, and Mikasa, too, seemed softer, not having yet smiled but nonetheless looking more at peace than Eren had ever seen her.

  
The three of them shared honeysuckles and read from the book and Mikasa was not as fond of sweets as Eren was but, like him, she quietly watched Armin’s face light up with each yellow flower. She didn’t smile, but her eyes seemed to shine in a way that looked pleased, and Eren locked gazes with her and if they ended up giving most of their flowers to Armin, well, there was something they understood together.

  
\---

  
When Eren’s mother died, nothing tasted sweet for a long, long time.

  
\---

  
“Hey, hey guys! Look what I've got ~ ” Sasha sang, drooling a bit at the corner of her mouth as she pranced through the dining hall towards her friends. Usually when Sasha said something of this nature, it spelled trouble for everyone involved. Delicious trouble, but trouble nonetheless.

  
Held above her head in triumph was a satchel, not particularly big, but it looked completely stuffed. And when Sasha dumped its contents onto the table, everyone nearby stood up and yelped in shock.

  
Out came tumbling golden coins, small and shiny, and soon enough there was a large pile on the table. And everyone began panicking because Sasha’s antics were funny enough to endure when she’d stolen bread from the officers’ pantry or sneaked another potato during training, but she had officially fallen into actual, serious thieving now and _holy shit_ \--

  
“Holy shit, Sasha, what the hell!” Connie squawked. “Are you seriously trying to get thrown in jail?!”

  
“They’re _chocolate_ , dummy!” Sasha said, and when she picked up a coin and peeled away the golden foil, a number of fascinated “ah”s came from her fellow cadets. Then everyone began eagerly reaching for a coin to try for themselves.

  
“Where’d you get them?” Marco asked. And when Sasha’s eyes glinted evilly, he decided it’s probably safer that he not know.

  
Eren and Mikasa didn’t move from their seats, not wanting to deal with the crowd surrounding the pile of coins. But Armin came back to them with a small handful, looking excited and eager.

  
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had chocolate, huh?” Armin asked Eren, handing him a gold coin. Mikasa shook her head politely when he offered her one.

  
“Mm,” Eren mumbled absently, looking at the coin in his hand. It _had_ been a long time. He remembered a small box and colorful paper, and his mother’s laugh, and sharing the chocolate with Armin. He’d forgotten how sweetness tasted, how it felt on his tongue.

  
He carefully peeled away the foil and, the chocolate being slightly melted now, licked at the contents.

  
It wasn’t as good as the chocolate his father gave him but… it was very sweet. And it was a change from the tasteless food served in the dining hall three times a day, every day.

  
And, years later, chocolate could still put that same glint in Armin’s eyes.

  
The blond also had a smudge of chocolate at the corner of his mouth.

  
“You’ve got a bit right here,” Eren said, pointing. Armin tried getting it with his tongue, but didn’t quite get all of it.

  
“Here,” Eren said and he reached forward to wipe the chocolate away, his thumb catching for a moment on the blond’s lower lip.

  
And he snatched his hand away as if it had been burned. Eren felt his face heat up and saw Armin’s turn bright red. Okay, well. _Well._

  
“There,” Eren coughed awkwardly.

  
“Th-thanks,” Armin said. He didn’t eat anymore chocolate after that, putting the rest of the coins in his pocket.

  
Mikasa just looked on in quiet amusement.

  
\---

  
As the boys headed towards their barracks after dinner, Eren couldn’t get the taste of chocolate to leave his mouth, or forget the softness of Armin’s lip under his finger; how the blond had turned red in a way that was almost… _pretty_.

  
 _No. No, we are stopping this train of thought right here, right now,_ Eren thought desperately, barely stopping himself from literally shaking his head to dismiss the thoughts.

  
He’s not thinking these things about his best friend, about the boy who lights up at the taste of chocolate, who reads about the world beyond the walls and isn’t afraid to share his dreams of exploring it. The boy who gave those dreams to Eren.

  
He almost bites his tongue trying to keep a frustrated scream from coming out.

  
“Eren?”

  
He blinked and realized that he’d been standing in the same place while the rest of the boys have already gone inside. Except Armin, always Armin, who’s second only to Mikasa in worrying the most about Eren’s well-being.

  
The blond was looking at him a bit worriedly.

  
“Ah, it’s nothing,” Eren said, and he found that his eyes couldn’t stop flickering down to the boy’s mouth. _Stop it,_ he hissed mentally.

  
“Are you sure?” Armin asked, looking unconvinced.

  
“Yeah, it’s just… Do you have another one of those chocolate coins?” That was exactly _not_ the sentence Eren meant to say.

  
Armin blinked before reaching into his pocket, “Um, yeah, here.” And he handed him one of the golden coins.

  
Eren’s hands shook slightly as he unwrapped the foil and he found himself saying, “You really do like chocolate, huh?” as his mind continued to yell at him to _shut up shut up shut up_.

  
Armin shrugged, smiling embarrassedly, “I guess it’s a bit of a weakness of mine.”

  
Eren felt the chocolate melting on his tongue, just like a few a minutes ago in the dining hall, just like that afternoon so many years ago. He slowly stepped closer to the other boy, dropping the crumpled pieces of foil on the ground. Eren felt his heart pounding rapidly in his chest, and he suddenly realized, _why am I worrying so much? This is_ Armin _._

  
And with that, he kissed him, chocolate-stained lips and all.

  
Armin’s eyes widened and his body went stiff with surprise, but Eren didn’t pull away. The angle was a bit awkward, but Eren took hold of the other boy’s face with both hands and gently turned it until their mouths fit against each other just right. And Armin sighed with something that sounded like relief, like acceptance, and he softened like water against Eren’s body.

  
Eren’s mouth opened slightly and when Armin let out a small murmur of "Eren," he slipped in his tongue and licked into the other boy’s mouth, the taste of chocolate mingling with something different, a sweetness that was distinctly _Armin_.

  
Eren didn’t know much about kissing, didn’t know much about where to put his hands or what to do next, but he did know that familiar shine in Armin’s eyes when he tasted chocolate. Armin’s eyes had closed awhile ago, but now they were slowly opening as Eren pressed their bodies closer together. His eyes were brighter than he had ever seen them before, clear and blue and radiant and Eren still loved them as much as he did when they were younger. And that whimpering noise Armin made when Eren flicked his tongue? He found that he loved that, too.

  
He sucked lightly on Armin’s bottom lip before pulling away, but not too far for their breaths to mingle and for their foreheads to press together. Armin’s cheeks were apple red now, and Eren knew he must look the same. His hands still cradled the other boy’s face and Armin’s hands were resting on his hips.

  
For two heartbeats, they said nothing.

  
Then Eren smiled and couldn’t stop the laugh from bubbling up his throat. Then Armin was laughing too and Eren thought again, _why was I worrying so much?_

  
He kissed him again, and it was soft and warm and the taste of chocolate lingered with every touch of their lips.

  
\---

  
That day was not the last day Sasha attained sweets by dubious means, and indeed every once in awhile the dining hall would see her dancing through the aisles with some new treasure clutched in her arms. But no one complained -- whether it was a cake drizzled in icing or a bag of candied walnuts, everyone appreciated something different from their monotonous meals, something that made them feel younger and reminded them of things sweeter than the bitter reality they found themselves in.

  
For Eren, he always liked seeing the look on Armin’s face when he tasted sugary-goodness on his tongue. And the kiss the blond would press against his mouth, well, that was the sweetest thing of all.


End file.
